Siemens buys Dickinson; ABB snaps up Eutech

Siemens and ABB have increased their stakes in the UK market. Siemens has paid £9.3m for Dickinson Control Systems - which it says is the UK`s largest independent systems integrator - while ABB has bought the engineering consultancy Eutech Engineering Solutions from ICI.

Dickinson installs factory automation and control systems and last year achieved sales of around £15m. The company has its headquarters in Winchester and branches in Manchester, Coventry, Doncaster and Glasgow.

Siemens is buying the business from Brunel Holdings, which has embarked on a programme to reduce its gearing. The acquisition means that Siemens can now support every aspect of installation lifecycles from project conception through to servicing and upgrades. Dickinson`s managing director, Tom Temple, will stay in this post.

ABB`s acquisition of Eutech will boost its presence in the chemical, petrochemicals, and pharmaceutical industries. Eutech, which employs 550 people and has sales of around £55m, offers consulting services in manufacturing operations and engineering. The company will now be known as ABB Eutech and will be headed by Peter Flinn, previously managing director of ABB Support and ABB ProCon. ABB Automation is moving its UK headquarters and its drives and motors operation to Eutech`s Daresbury, Cheshire, premises.